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Hey! sorry I’ve been absent from the web for a bit. I just finished up my finals yesterday and now post-celebrating, I’m back! The week has been rough, I’ve been eating a ton-going out to dinner, brunch, and not going to the gym. I’ve been having long partying nights too, which just kill your energy, looks and everything. Ahhh, all the lightness of my post-Master Cleanse self is gone.

I went shopping for shorts yesterday and was stunned to see that I have gone UP a size. I am no a sz 30, up from a 28 last summer. I wonder if all my dieting worrying is sabotazing me! My real goal for the next few weeks is to get to the gym at least 5 days a week. I am working more at my job (at a branding company). Luckily my hours are very flexible, I can work either 2-4 days a week, half day or full-day, whatever. So there is really no excuse I cannot get my butt to the gym. I think I’m going to organize a reasonably strict schedule for this week, plan out fun classes to do (I am a crunch member, afterall and they are known for their “superfun classes”).

I’ve been thinking about the Master Cleanse….
One of the reasons I was so happy on it was that I was calm, finally not stressing for once over calories, nutrition and food costs. I was thinking that incorporating similar simplicity into my life might help me lose the weight the best. I was thinking that protein shakes might be the way to go. Limit myself to 1 or 2 protein shakes and as many fruits and veggies as I want. As much as I HATE processed things, protein shakes are very nutritient rich and would help me get necessary protein (and even fat) into my diet. I would do soy protein shakes a la Whole Foods, not SlimFast etc. Anyone have ideas for a similarly SIMPLE diet plans. Honestly, I’d do a mono diet (all apples all day) but it’s not an effective long-term eating plan…ideas?

I not longer have class, just final exams for school so I’ve been able to rummage around my favorite grocery stores, Trader Joes and Whole Foods getting inspired and staying well stocked in fruits and veggies. I am concentrating on raw recipes, but mostly just trying to incorporate tons of freshness (fresh foods) into my day!

I spent 2 hours tonight just preparing foods and sealing them off in little containers for later. I find that it is always so much nicer to be exposed to many different tastes and textures during a meal, rather than just a heap of the same thing. I made egg white salad, very healthy- I used only cooked egg whites, parsley, cucumber, and my favorite cottage cheese. The cottage cheese gives the salad a spread texture and a cheesy taste, without having to use mayonnaise.
I also cooked up some steamed spinach and garlic for tomorrow and roasted some baby portabello mushrooms and butternut squash for later. A little bit of each of these things along, some fresh carrot and celery sticks, and a bag of salad mix and my lunch (and possibly early dinner too!) is set tomorrow.

I had coffee today for the first time in 2 or 3 weeks. I haven’t had caffeine in a while, since I was on the cleanse etc. Though it was only one cup, it kind of made me feel slightly sick and gave me a baby headache. I know caffeine (and obviously caffeine addictions) are not good, but I love coffee, I love the taste, the brew, the ritual, the whole damn thing! I suppose it’s not something I should really PUSH to bring back into my life, though.

I have been looking at a lot of blogs and want to attempt raw vegan “sushi” using nori and all veggies (poss. with a bit of marinated tofu) or wraps with collard greens. I’ve never rolled sushi before, and I don’t quite know how to do it and I’m also a bit perplexed about how to wrap with the collard greens. Do i use a toothpick? How does everything stay together??

I almost realized that I haven’t given you guys after shots! So even though I’ve broken the cleanse and have some water back in my system, these are the before and after shots..

As you can see the only real change is that I lost some water weight, but am enjoying that After-Side shot thank you very much.

I am going back to normal healthy food. I am going to really try for small portions, eating slowly, not eating when I’m not hungry anymore, etc. Going on the cleanse really makes you want to keep your stomach light! It just feels (and looks) better. Also, one of the best things about the cleanse is that not only did my body get a rest from the normal processes of digestion but my mind got a rest from the process of eating! While eating has always been a pleasure for me (I love delicious foods), I am constantly stressed by it, counting calories, calculating nutrition, food costs, etc. etc. When I was on the cleanse, I had no stressed and it felt great. For a little while I was attempting CRON (Calorie Restriction Optimal Nutrition), but the precision and the worry and the counting calories was giving me a disorder. I want to live without counting calories!

So after horribly breaking my cleanse last night, I drank my herbal laxative tea and proceeded to sleep HORRIBLY. I guess it was the food, especially the drastic change in food, but though I slept a full 10 hours, I still feel tired. I feel tired, gross and have a headache. It’s making me want to hop back on the horse and start cleansing again.

I just did my salt water flush and I am going to prepare some lemonade for the day. One of the best things about the cleanse is that you are able to keep your energy levels up so well. Imagine if you could take a single bite of you lunch every 10, 15 minutes. You’re sugar levels would be as stable as mine on the cleanse. That’s one of the most alluring parts, as well as never feeling hungry and never being Stuffed.

I think I might try to incorporate the lemonade into my diet for a little while. Perhaps lemonade in the morning and a light dinner of fruit and veggies. I’m not sure. I will just listen to what my body wants for a little while and see, it’s just that all my body wants right now is LEMONADE!

So all day today i was just fine. I went and had a soothing back massage with my friend to clean out my toxins. It was 8pm and I was getting hungry while waiting to meet my friends for a movie. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any lemonade left. The Stupid Move: I WENT INTO WHOLE FOODS with my friend who needed to pick up a few things and I started to crave. As you guys know, with the fast you don’t crave sugar or pizza you just crave healthy things like a juicy apple or a fresh salad. My stomach and mind went off, I was literally salvating over the vegetable stand. There were samples and i couldn’t resist. From there I got a tiny takeout container and promised myself that would be it. However, I got to the movie and was still hungry and STILL didn’t have my lemonade. It was there that it all ended… I’m talking a lemon bar, popcorn and later a veggie mozzarella wrap.

I am sitting on my computer now after this episode and not killing myself about breaking the fast, but regretting that I ended it so rashly and horribly. I wanted to ease myself back into food, go for a raw food diet afterwords, maintain a light stomach, etc. Now, I am lying here with a TOO full belly and not feeling cleanse-tastic anymore. Shame, shame. I have just decided to go through with it and drink my herbal laxative tea tonight and salt flush in the morning, then see how I feel. I want to get my light stomach back so I can either start my cleanse again or start my healthy eating on the right food.

My main problem with eating by the way is not the wrong food, just that I eat TOO much. I generally eat very healthy-consciously and nutritiously. The only complaint I can think of is that I drink too much. But hey, justified-I’m young and most of my socializing happens at bars (even though i am starting a revolt to change that). The best thing about the cleanse is that I had a light stomach all day. Eating too much gives you a heavy stomach that makes you feel sick or just tired. I’m not saying a STUFFED stomach, I have just realized (even more so through the cleanse) that I feel happiest and healthiest when I have a light stomach. Small portions is really the way to go.

My god, I have eaten so much food and so unproperly – I don’t even know what my body is going to do with it! Plus the laxative tea… wish me luck. Not to beat up on myself too hard, but I guess the AM will be a punishment for the mistakes of PM.

I just lit a small tea candle and am relaxing in bed. I just worked out a tiny bit and sat in the sauna. Ah…..

So, today there was a struggle. I was surrounded by food all afternoon. I had a special class meeting today where we were given a free pass to the dining hall (buffet, a pretty good one too) so everyone else loaded up. I was crAVing vegetables and was just imagining the huge salad I could have made for myself. Also, I had an early dinner with my dad who sat oohing and aahing about how delicious his falafel sandwich was. Falafel is my favorite food, ever. I got home and was about to dig into a salad, when my willpower prevailed. I stopped myself and ran for computer where I sit now and am feeling fine and confident again.

This! is why blogging is great. It makes you accountable and gives you support. Thank you for everyone who has commented here, because I don’t think I would have felt such accountability or support if I didn’t know people were reading and interacting. So thanks!

I felt slightly dizzy today. I haven’t been drinking much of the lemonade at all. I’ve had 4-5 glasses a day Day#1-3, which is very low. I am drinking my sixth glass of today now, and I feel much, much better. All day I was imagining doing just this; curling into bed, lighting candles and calm. I don’t know if it was just me feeling dizzy, but this cleanse makes you very very relaxed. I’ve been feeling a strong sense of “calm” since I started. I think it is a mix of pride and pleasure-and it’s feeling great, especially now after I’ve conquered my first big hurdle! (I weighed in at 131lbs today-all that water weight I suppose but I’m down 4lbs)

I was wondering about how much weight I will lose on the cleanse.
I found this on therawfoodsite.com..
“The informal survey of 141 Master Cleansers mentioned earlier discovered that the average woman completing the Master Cleanse lost about 12 pounds and regained about 6. The average man lost about 16 pounds and also regained about 6. Interestingly, most people reported they ate a healthier diet after completing the cleanse.”

Day #3, no hunger (so strange), no problem. Even went to the gym for a light light workout (133lbs btw). But, let me tell ya-these morning are NOT fun. I live with three other roommates and the fact that everyone is running around using the lil’ girls room in the morning, leaving it occupied is, well, just NOT fun. I was just emailing with a friend of mine and she recommended that only 1/2 cup of the herbal laxative be drank at night, instead of the full cup, so that mornings are a little less rough. There should be less and less to be “pushed out” of me as the days go on. Ew you don’t wanna here this.

So as you guys know it’s way more important for me to have a nice waist-hip ratio than to lose weight. Noone is carrying me anywhere, I can weight as much as I want! In response to one of my previous post “Skinny and Curvy?” an anonymous poster recommended that I do weight training to get a thin toned waist and still keep my curves. Ameliabelia, I feel you, my hips always get smaller first (My gym buddy says that is due to using the Elliptical/Cross-Trainer). But just in general my hips are much smaller than the rest of me. Does anyone know enough to recommend specific weight training exercises I should do, or better yet cardio equipment to use? This is for when I get off my cleanse-I don’t see a point in strength training now it will be too much exersion and I’m not eating any protein! I think running would be the best for toning up allover, especially the waist, but I have bad knees and I can’t run- at least not regularly or for more than 15 minutes.

One trainer online recommends, “If you want to lose fat, you should weight train at least three times per week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). I like to recommend total body workouts each session for beginning trainers as it helps the body to learn the exercises faster and build strength and muscle faster. The REAL key to losing fat is ramping up your metabolism to burn calories ALL THE TIME rather than just when you’re exercising. By keeping cardio intensity low, you only burn calories DURING exercise, not so much after. But when you boost intensity, your metabolism gets cranked up and you burn more calories ALL DAY.”

I know that this weight training thing is the correct idea. I do 98% cardio and don’t see significant changes in my body shape. Currently, I use the elliptical machine primarily and bike sometimes for cardio. I do crunches whenever I’m at the gym and sneak in a yoga class here and there. I think that perhaps I should try spinning as a high intensity cardio exercise. Also, pilates classes would be very beneficial because, as I have raved before, when I was doing pilates every day I had the best body in the world. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or money for that anymore, but I should be able to fit in at least one class a week.